


The Hogwarts Slice of Life

by dxmichelle



Series: Wayward Wizardry [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: Chess games, Detention, Gen, Mandrakes, Writing prompt collection, love potions
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-24
Updated: 2019-02-20
Packaged: 2019-07-02 01:13:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,084
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15785925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dxmichelle/pseuds/dxmichelle
Summary: A collection of unrelated writing prompts, each one a small slice of everyday Hogwarts shenanigans, set in 'Of Lost Swords and Shadow Magic' universe.





	1. Checkmate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Proposed by [@steinbecks](http://steinbecks.tumblr.com): Kaiba playing chess with Ron with Hermione deeply interested in the match.

The Gryffindor common room could have had a divisive line drawn down the center for how directly opposite the two sides of the room were occupied. On one side, near to the roaring fire, students talked amongst themselves of the gossip of the day: how narrowly detention was avoided in Professor Snape’s class, or how, after two cancellations due to the Pitch either flooding or freezing out, Hufflepuff was finally going to be able to play Slytherin in the upcoming Quidditch match.

Across the common room, closer to the staircases leading up to the dormitories, a much larger number of Gryffindors gathered, most of them clustered around Ron Weasley and a fourth year whose name Ron couldn’t remember for the life of him, as they battled their way across the chessboard between them.

If it weren’t for the fact that most of her view of the board was blocked by the mass of onlookers, Hermione would have been much more invested in the game’s outcome. She and Ron, to all of their friends’ relief, had finally gotten over their latest fight and seemed to be back on rather normal speaking terms again. Despite being a terrible player of the game, she did enjoy watching, but there were times that Ron’s victory gloating over his housemates got rather grating to listen to.

At least he had stopped looking for easy prey in the unassuming first years.

But instead, while Ron stayed surrounded by his crowd, Hermione busied herself with finishing her Arithmancy essay for Professor Vector. She had been sitting at the next table over with Seto ever since dinner had ended. Although, her study partner had long since finished his work, and was currently dancing his fingers along the keys of his laptop, ignoring the spectacle around him.

When she heard Ron triumphantly call out a ‘checkmate’, she sighed and leaned back in her seat. Finally, the room would clear out a little.

Ron moved to sit at their table, with his box of pieces and board tucked under his arm. “Another win for me. That makes what, four tonight?”

“Five,” said Hermione. She screwed the cap back onto her ink bottle. “But who’s counting?”

Ron grinned. “What can I say? No one can match my skills!”

“How can they, when you usually pick on the beginners?” said Hermione. Her eyes darted to Seto for a brief moment before going back to Ron. “Have you thought to play against someone who might be better at the game than you?”

Ron snorted. “Come on, Hermione, who here is potentially better at chess than me?”

Hermione reached into her bag and pulled out her latest ‘light reading’ pick – a tome that was at least twice the size of their current Charms text. She opened it and pulled out an old, yet well-kept magazine clipping that Ron recognized from being at the Burrow over the summer. She tapped a paragraph of text and began clearing away her excess Arithmancy notes.

Ron’s brow furrowed slightly. The clipping was about Seto. Surprise, surprise. What was so special about this stupid article, anyway? Sighing, he looked at the passage in question, and then his face lit up, and he turned to the only other occupant of the table. “Seto!”

“Hn.” Seto was barely paying attention to them as his eyes pored over Roland’s emailed weekly status report.

“After all this time – you’ve been holding out on me!”

“About what?”

“I’ve been playing circles around all the underclassmen here, and there’s been a chess player right next to me this entire time! Why didn’t you say anything all those times I was looking for someone to play against?”

Seto still didn’t look up from his work. “I haven’t touched a chessboard in months. Obviously, I hadn’t the desire to play.”

Ron smirked at him. “What – worried that you’d lose?”

Seto snorted. “Hardly. You wouldn’t last ten minutes against me.”

“You’ve said you’re out of practice. What makes you so sure that you could beat me?” Ron smirked. “I’m at the top of my game!”

Hermione looked up from her finished essay, eyebrows raised. “Ron, I know you’re good – you’re _more_ than good at chess…” She tapped the article in front of him again, “…but Seto is a _world champion_.”

Ron crossed his arms and glared at her. “What – you don’t think I could hold my own? Just because I haven’t won some big leagues tournament? Yugi wasn’t even a name yet in his Duel Monsters game, and _he_ beat Seto on his first try!”

Hermione watched as Seto’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “Ron….”

Ron ignored her, set the chessboard down between himself and Seto and placed the box of pieces on the table. “Alright, mate, if you’re so sure you can beat me when _no one else_ around here can, prove it!”

The typing stopped, the laptop closed and set aside.

“Very well,” said Seto. With his computer out of the way, he reached across and shifted the board to be more centered between them. “ _One_ game.”

“Alright,” said Ron, “And what side do you want?”

“Black.”

Ron’s eyes widened briefly. “…Interesting choice. Most people choose white.”

Seto finished setting his pieces in place. “I thought it was obvious by now, that I am unlike _most people_.”

“I suppose,” said Ron, and looked up eagerly at Seto. “Ready to lose?”

“An odd statement to make, considering I have no intention of losing tonight,” said Seto. He met Ron’s gaze with an intensity Hermione hadn’t seen since his duel with Yugi out on the Quidditch Pitch. “I have no intention of parting with my championship title. Now make your move.”

Ron nodded and surveyed the board. “E4.” He smirked up at his opponent. “Remember – this is _wizard chess_. It’s not like your kind.”

Seto raised an eyebrow, and sent his matching pawn to meet Ron’s. “So the pieces move on their own. Is that supposed to scare me? The game is played the same way; you will _lose_ the same way.”

“You know, that fourth year was super confident too,” said Ron, as he directed his king-side bishop out a few squares. “And everyone saw where that got him.”

Seto was stone-faced. “Intimidation tactics don’t work on me.”

Hermione moved around to the end of the table to sit directly between them both, her eyes never leaving the game, or the two players entwined in such an intense battle. She had seen Seto hyper-focused on numerous occasions, and the side of him that came out while dueling was loud and derisive to accompany his various strategies of overwhelming his opponents quickly with brutal humiliation. But this was…different. After the first three or so moves from each side, there was no talking, except in directing the pieces. Neither player’s eyes left the war laid out in front of them.

And the only time she had ever seen Ron so intently focused was during a similar match, down in the lower chambers as they fought for their very lives on Professor McGonagall’s giant chess set.

There were no quick, hastily made moves. A captured piece went to Ron, a few moves later, one to Seto. Orders were made with firm determination after long, thoughtful moments of silence.

People moved about the common room, some lingered near their table a few minutes to watch the match, but left, unimpressed with the long pauses in action. With Ron winning most games in few yet quickly made moves, this game was far from the norm. But Hermione paid no attention to any of them. Her focus remained glued to the chessboard, trying to uncover each of their strategies, to get a handle on who might be leading the upper hand. But anytime it seemed she might have had something figured out, a move was made that would change the dynamic of the game.

It was Ron that uttered the first “Check,” and he did so with a grand smirk on his face, as if, after all these intricately-woven moves, it was a personal triumph to officially get on the offensive first.

Seto didn’t seem fazed by this at all. His eyes lifted from the board to meet Ron’s and raised an eyebrow. He didn’t even look back at the board, and formed a smirk of his own. “Bishop to C4.”

Hermione gasped, and Ron’s grinning face backpedaled to one of horror, as his queen was taken out, the threat exterminated.

Ron’s jaw dropped. “You _planned_ that, didn’t you?!”

Seto interlocked his fingers together and returned to studying the board. “It’s your move.”

Hermione watched Ron. He was silent for a few minutes, his eyes madly raking the board over before he finally took his turn. And the battle continued.

Harry and Yugi returned from the library and set upstairs for bed. A few seventh-years remained, chatting amiably by the fire. A fifth-year prefect returned from making rounds. The common room continued to empty.

And the game marched onward.

The time lapses between turns were getting longer now. Hermione watched as the small graveyard of captured pieces on each side continued to grow, and there was still no clear winner.

Two ‘checks’ were called, one from each side. A pawn reached the opposite end and became a queen. Three moves later, a queen was lost.

A king was put in danger again, and once again thwarted capture. The pieces continued to thin. A rook was knocked out by a pawn, the last bishop destroyed by its rival counterpart.

Hermione wasn’t sure how they were going to manage to trump each other, with the small amount of pieces left in play. All of the pawns were gone. And so were a great number of supporting players.

But the lone-standing queen and knight of matching color that remained, after hours of skirting their way around the grid, pinned in their target near a corner of the board.

“Checkmate.”


	2. Mandrakes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Proposed by [@darksidechick823](http://darksidechick823.tumblr.com): The three exchange students in one of their extra lessons.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unlike most of the prompts that will appear in this collection, this one _does_ take place during the main story, and was referenced back in Chapter 14.
> 
> /Text/ Spirit to Host  
>  **/Text/** Host to Spirit

Following dinner that evening, Yugi, Ryou, and Seto split off from Harry, Ron, and Hermione, heading not back up towards Gryffindor Tower, but down towards the Entrance Hall. Professor Sprout was waiting for them near the front doors to the castle.

“Good evening!” she said cheerfully, “Ready to hit the Greenhouses?”

“I think so,” said Ryou. “Are…are you escorting us down?”

“I am,” said Professor Sprout, “If you remember from Professor Dumbledore’s welcome speech this term, you cannot be outside the castle past sunset on your own.”

“Oh, right,” said Ryou, “I’m sorry, I forgot.”

Professor Sprout dismissed the thought as she led them down the path towards the Greenhouses. “Think nothing of it. I will meet you here for all of our upcoming evening classes together, but please do not leave the castle on your own if I am running behind. Wait for either myself or another member of the staff to let you out.”

“Okay,” Yugi nodded. He began walking towards Greenhouse One, where the first-year lessons were known to be kept, and having been in step with him, Ryou followed along. Neither realizing that Professor Sprout hadn’t gone in that direction at all.

“This way, boys!” Professor Sprout called. She was standing a bit further down the path, closer to the doors to the other Greenhouses.

Yugi blinked and looked over at the building he almost entered. “We’re not going to the first one?”

“Oh, no. We’ll be in Greenhouse Three this evening!”

Yugi and Ryou exchanged worried looks. Hermione had told them that the Greenhouses were numbered by how dangerous the plants inside were categorized. The first one had the _least_ dangerous specimens inside. …And there were only three buildings.

“We’re not…starting small?” Ryou asked.

Professor Sprout shook her head. “We’re jumping right into the thick of things! This way, please!”

“I’m suddenly very afraid,” Ryou whispered to Yugi, who quickly nodded.

Professor Sprout gestured to the rack of gardening robes along the wall. “We’re going to be playing with dirt today, so you may change your robes out for those if you wish. And don’t forget your dragonhide gloves! When you’re all set, come meet me at the front table.”

The front table consisted of three pots. One was empty, one had a leafy plant inside, and the other was full of fresh dirt.

When her three charges were gathered around her, Professor Sprout gestured to the pots. “We’re going to re-pot some Mandrakes today. Can any of you tell me what is special about the mandrake’s root?”

“It’s used as a cure for petrification,” said Seto.

Yugi, eyebrows raised, met Ryou’s dumbfounded look. Just _how_ _many_ books did Kaiba _absorb_ over the summer!?

Professor Sprout beamed, obviously impressed. “I didn’t think any of you knew the answer, considering this is a second-year subject. Very good! 10 points to Gryffindor! Now, Mandrakes like staying cozy and warm in their pots, so when we go to replant them, they _will_ scream.”

Ryou bit his lip and raised his hand. “W-what do you mean?”

“Unlike most plants you may be accustomed to in Muggle life, the roots of the Mandrake will resemble a human infant,” said Professor Sprout, “And you can imagine how upset they would be if you grasped them by the hair and yanked upwards.”

“So…”Yugi looked about the front table, “Are we just taking them out of the old pot…and putting them in the new one?”

“Essentially,” said Professor Sprout. “They outgrow their pots over time, which is why we are going to re-pot the ones in here this evening. And, as I’m sure you can imagine, as the Mandrake grows, so does the intensity of its scream. An adult Mandrake’s cry is fatal to anyone who hears it.”

Upon Yugi and Ryou’s sudden terrified expressions, Professor Sprout raised a hand reassuringly and gestured back to the pots. “Now, no need to worry yourselves, _these_ Mandrakes are only seedlings. _Their_ cries will only knock you out for a few hours, which is why…” she reached to her side table and produced a pair of earmuffs. “You will have _these_ for auditory protection.”

Professor Sprout gestured to the base of the leafy area of the Mandrake, just above the top of the soil line in the pot. “Now, you’ll grasp your Mandrake there. You want to pull it sharply out, and then set it down into the other pot, and then spread a good bit of fresh soil around to keep it warm. …Any questions?”

“Will they _stop_ crying?” asked Yugi.

“Yes, once they’re warmed up to their new pot, they’ll settle. Now let’s get started.” Professor Sprout pointed to a small cabinet along the side wall. “There are earmuffs there for you to use. Make sure they’re down tightly before you start.”

“This doesn’t seem too bad,” said Ryou, “For some reason, I thought this would be a lot harder than dunking a plant into another pot.”

“Yeah,” said Yugi, grabbing a pair of earmuffs and making his way to one of the workstations. Seto passed him in the aisle on his way to getting his own pair of earmuffs. “This will be easy.”

He reached for the bottom of the stem, just where it reached the base of the roots, and began to raise it out of the pot.

Watching from the safety of their soul corridor, Yami gasped. /Yugi – _wait_! _Don’t pull it out yet_!/

 **/Huh?/** But it was too late. The Mandrake’s head had already breached the dirt in the old pot. It scrunched up its face, clearly unhappy at being disturbed, and let out its ear-splitting screech.

Yugi was glad he couldn’t hear anything, but he was quick to find his error. **/Uh oh…/**

In his haste to begin the lesson, he neglected to make sure everyone else in the room had their ears covered before grabbing hold of the Mandrake. He quickly finished the task of re-potting his plant before hurrying to the next table over, where Ryou and Professor Sprout were kneeling over Seto, unconscious on the greenhouse floor. His earmuffs rested loosely in his hand, having never made it over his ears in time.


	3. Chocolate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ryou Bakura is tired of receiving gifts from his fangirls. Yami Bakura decides to do something about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> /Text/ Yami Bakura to Ryou  
>  **/Text/** Ryou to Yami Bakura

With a despaired groan, Ryou Bakura pushed away his Divination text and put his head down in his arms on the library table.

He should have taken Yugi’s advice and worked on his homework from the safety of his bed rather than out in the open.

This was the third box of chocolate he had received today, and the second one since he made the decision to hide in the library and study, versus the common room. It had only been two weeks since Professor Umbridge’s announcement of the Christmastime ball, and he was already tired of the near-constant attention.

Getting through the next month was going to be  _murder_.

He had already gotten enough chocolate to make  _Joey Wheeler_ sick, and all of it so far sat unopened in a pile on the wooden chair beside his bed.

“Why me?” he said quietly, to no one in particular, “Why won’t they leave me alone?”

/I  _said_ you were too soft./

**/I told them no. I was trying not to be rude about it, Spirit./**

/You need to man up, Landlord. These delusional little witches think you’re too nice, that you’ll change your mind after mulling over their gifts for the night. What you  _need_ to do is send them a message that clearly states that you’re not going to put up with this nonsense anymore./

**/I don’t want to make enemies here, Spirit./**

/Who said anything about enemies?/

**/These are people that have had much more magical training than me. I don’t want to be hexed in my sleep or something because someone has a vendetta against me…/**

/For what – turning them down as a date? How ridiculous./

**/Still…/**

Yami Bakura rolled his eyes from his soul doorway. /I’m surprised you haven’t done anything with all that chocolate./

Ryou lifted his head and eyed the fancily-wrapped package sitting innocently beside his textbook.  **/Like what? Eat it? Hermione is probably right – I imagine they are all spiked with some sort of love potion./**

/I know.  _That’s my point._ /

Ryou froze.  **/D-did you _want_ me to eat them?/**

/ _No,_ you dolt. I would have caused a little mayhem with them, like give them to Kaiba. Let these rabid little fans of yours have someone unexpected follow their every move for a change./

Ryou shook his head, puzzled.  **/…But Kaiba doesn’t eat candy./**

Before he knew what was happening, he was tossed to his soul room as his darker half scoffed loudly. /Honestly, must I do  _everything_ myself?/

**/What the – _stop_ , Spirit, let me back out./**

/Quiet, Landlord. Let me show you how to get these girls off your back./

Ryou pulled a face, but leaned against the wall on his side of the soul corridor, arms crossed.  **/ _Please_ , Spirit – don’t get me in trouble./**

Bakura ignored him, and stretched lazily in his seat. He glanced around from his spot in the middle of the aisle, and his eyes set upon his victim.

“Hey,” he said, in his most Ryou-esque voice. “It’s…Barny, right?”

The first year shook his head. “No….Nigel.”

“ _Nigel_ , right,” said Bakura. He picked the box up off the table. “Do you like chocolate? Never mind, don’t answer that,  _everyone_ likes chocolate.”

“Heh,” said Nigel, “Yeah…”

“Well,” Bakura added a bit of despair to his voice. “I’m allergic to chocolate, actually. Makes me break out in hives.”

**/Spirit…I am _not_ allergic. What lies are you telling that poor boy?/**

“Uh…then why do you have some?” asked Nigel.

Bakura shrugged. “It’s my birthday ( **/No it isn’t!/** ), and someone very nicely gifted me some. But I can’t eat it without having a reaction to it. And that nice girl went to such lengths to give this to me…I don’t want it to go to waste.” He eyed the chocolate box and then looked to Nigel. “Do you know someone that might want it?”

“Yeah,” Nigel nodded, with a hungry glint in his eyes. “I might know someone who could take that off your hands.”

“ _Great_!” Bakura fed him his best sinisterly-sweet smile and pressed the candy box into the first year’s hands. “Thanks!”

“No sweat,” said Nigel, and he turned to head back up the aisle. “Happy Birthday.”

Bakura beamed.

Ryou forced himself back in control the instant Nigel turned the corner.  **/What was _that_ all about?/**

/ _That_ , Landlord, was  _me_ getting rid of your annoying candy problem./

**/Don’t be telling lies about my birthday – that’s just going to encourage _more_ people to give me gifts!/**

/You worry too much./

Ryou sighed and reached for his homework again.

“Um, hi. It’s Ryou, right?”

Ryou looked up. A blonde Hufflepuff prefect, one he recognized from his Divination class, was standing at the other side of his table, her own Divination books tucked under her arm. “Yeah…I’m sorry, I don’t remember your name.”

She smiled. “It’s Hannah. Hannah Abbott. You’re doing Professor Trelawney’s assignments, right? Do you mind if I join you?”

“Uh sure – go ahead.” Ryou moved his bag aside to make space for her to sit down. “Did you need help with the homework?”

Hannah shook her head. “No, but I was sitting over at that table over there, and it looked like you could use some interference. I saw a fifth year from my own house watching you from between the gap in the bookshelves.”

Ryou sagged against the back of his chair. “Thanks,” he said, “I came in here to try and get some homework done, but it seems everyone else had other ideas.”

Hannah smiled. “Well, don’t worry. I’ve been trying to catch some of the underclassmen that have been brewing these potions for a little while now. Since I’m a prefect, I don’t think they’ll come bother you while I’m here.”

A scream from elsewhere in the library stole their attention. Both Ryou and Hannah jerked their heads towards the middle of the library as two Hufflepuff girls hurried past, with three first year boys hot on their heels, and Madame Pince chasing after the lot of them for the level of noise they were making as she shooed them from the room.

Hannah blinked. “What was  _that_ all about?”

Ryou suddenly found his dream diary  _very_ interesting. “I have no idea.”


	4. Detention

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A harmless prank lands Harry and the Yugi gang in detention.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> /Text/ Spirit to Host  
>  **/Text/** Host to Spirit

It was a harmless prank, he said. No one would know, he said. Seeing how “he” was the Spirit of the Ring, it  _should_ have been obvious that anything that came out of his mouth that went along with the word “prank” was going to be a terrible idea.

Ryou wasn’t quite sure how it unfolded so disastrously.

The group had just left their extra Transfiguration lesson. Professor McGonagall had taught them the “color changing” spell, and as they seemed to get it down surprisingly well, she let them leave before their lesson block had finished.

Eager to have a little fun and try it out versus return to the common room and write Flitwick’s essay, Yugi and Ryou wandered down to the second floor corridor and into the trophy room. Harry, who was on his way back to the common room after one of his “hush” meetings with Professor Dumbledore, stopped to join them.

Seto sighed and leaned against the wall of the trophy room as Harry told them – more Yugi and Ryou – of the various stories behind several of the recognition plaques. Yugi changed one silver Quidditch cup to bright yellow. Ryou changed it back, then swapped the colors of a golden shield to one that was boldly orange for Yugi to practice the counter spell.

“Here – try this one,” said Harry, wandering across the room and pointing to a rather shiny reward. “This is from when the Chamber of Secrets was first opened, and the supposed perpetrator behind the attacks was caught.”

“I take it that wasn’t the case?” said Ryou.

Harry shook his head. “No. Tom Riddle was Voldemort while he was here.  _He_ was the one who opened the chamber, but framed Hagrid for it instead. So Hagrid got kicked out, and Voldemort was labeled a hero.”

“That’s terrible,” said Yugi.

“He’s not worthy of that award then,” said Ryou, raising his wand towards the shelf. “Let’s fiddle with this one next.”

Yugi glanced over across the room. “Would you like to do this one, Kaiba?”

Seto rolled his eyes. “I’m more than content watching you two act like complete fools.”

/Fools, he says/ scoffed Yami Bakura. /It’s  _practice_. Just because  _someone_ got it right on his first try, doesn’t mean the rest of us did. You should turn  _his face_  a different color next./

**/Spirit!/** Ryou sighed.  **/No! The spell is for inanimate objects!/**

Bakura snorted and pulled control of Ryou’s wand arm. /I don’t see him moving, now let me have fun. It’s a  _harmless prank_./

**/Nothing is harmless if you’re doing it/**  Ryou countered, but he was too late trying to force Bakura back. The spirit’s aim though wasn’t exactly spot on, so Seto wasn’t hit at all.

Seto crossed his arms and looked down beside him. Mrs. Norris had picked the worst time to saunter into the trophy room, and now more or less resembled a furry watermelon.

Harry put a hand to his face, trying to suppress his laughter. Yugi bit his lip. Ryou looked horrified.

“Oh no,” he cried, “What do we do? This spell wasn’t meant for a living creature!”

“Uh…” Yugi paled, and looked at Seto. “You know a safe counter spell, don’t you?”

“I might.”

“You want to share with the rest of us?” said Ryou. “Never mind – just cast it and set her right before Filch comes in here!”

“You know what it is,” said Seto, pushing himself off the wall. “We learned it two weeks ago. You’ll never master it if I do it for you. You got yourselves into this mess, so now you can get yourselves back out of it.”

Unfortunately the moment he chose to leave left him staring right in Filch’s twitching, purple face.

“WHAT HAVE YOU MISCREANTS DONE TO MY CAT!?”

And  _that_ was how the entire group ended up herded right to Professor Snape’s office twenty minutes before curfew.

It had taken only moments to set the cat right again, and once the proper color had returned to Filch’s face, he had promptly fought for punishment equal to the  _horrible trauma_ that befell his cat.

“She wasn’t hurt,” Yugi said, “We were practicing our color-changing spell, and that one went a little…awry.”

“You  _willingly admit_ to torturing Mrs. Norris,” Filch spat, “I ought to hang the lot of you by your thumbs in the dungeons.”

Yugi paled. Was that even a possible detention here?

“It was my fault,” Harry said quickly. “I cast the spell. Give me detention, not them.”

Ryou caught Yugi’s gaze, eyes wide. Why would Harry lie for them?

“I should have known,” said Filch, “No regard for the rules. And the  _rest of you_ little accomplices, I’m sure I could find a way to turn  _your_ faces blue  _without magic_.”

“That won’t be necessary, Mr. Filch. I have something in mind for them,” said Snape, rising from his desk. He nodded towards the side door in his office leading back into the classroom. A long line of cauldrons, covered in various degrees of dried potion and rust sat along the front table.

“It would appear, save for perhaps one student, that the first year class is incapable of brewing even the most common of potions. I daresay they are worse than  _even you,_ Potter. This evening, the four of you will scrub all twelve of these cauldrons until they are spotless.”

He waved his wand and four sponges and empty buckets appeared on a student table. “This task is to be done  _without_ magic.”

Yugi stopped him as he turned to stalk back into his office. “Wait – Professor. What was in these cauldrons? It’s not going to hurt us or anything if we touch it, right?”

“Only if you’re a Doxy,” said Snape, “Now, if you excuse me, I have the third year’s Shrinking Solutions to grade.”

“Why did you do that?” Ryou asked, once Snape was out of earshot. “You didn’t cast the spell on Mrs. Norris – I did. You could have gotten yourself into so much extra trouble!”

“It’s nothing,” Harry shrugged. “I’m used to Snape and Filch, but you three are still new here. I just want to look out for you guys.”

“It’s been a few months,” said Yugi, “We’re not all  _that_ new anymore.”

“I know,” said Harry, “But I’m just as much to blame. I was the one that sort of egged you onto it.”

“No, that was the Spirit in the Ring,” Ryou said. “ _He_ was the one who tried to turn Kaiba’s hair green.”

Seto stiffened from his spot filling his bucket at the sink.

Harry failed to hide his grin. “Not going to lie, I’d have wanted to see that.”

“Oh well,” Yugi sighed as he grabbed his sponge. “But thanks anyway, Harry.” He frowned. “If he could...would Filch  _really_ have us hanging by our thumbs down here somewhere?”

Harry nodded. “Oh yeah. He’s got all sorts of chains in his office. He keeps swearing that one day he’ll convince the Headmaster to go back to the ‘olden days’ of punishments.”

Ryou gave him an odd look. “I’m afraid to ask – but  _how_ do you know he has those things?”

Harry shrugged. “Oh, I’ve snooped through his office before. And Umbridge  _almost_ brought that back as a proper punishment when she was running the school.”

Ryou scrubbed away at the inside of his cauldron. “I’m glad it’s still gone then.”

“But really,” said Yugi, “you didn’t have to put yourself out there like that. I know that you and Professor Snape don’t always see eye to eye. Ryou and I would have taken responsibility for what we did.”

“It’s okay,  _really_ ,” said Harry, “You guys are my friends. I couldn’t let you suffer through this alone.”

Seto snorted from his end of the front table. One of his cauldrons was already mostly clean again. “I could have. Apparently, I only have to  _breathe_ in your general vicinity, Yugi, before I’m thrown into yet another one of your messes.”

“Hey, I didn’t  _ask_ for this to happen,” said Yugi, “Don’t go blaming me!”

Harry glanced down the table. “How are you almost onto a second cauldron already?”

Seto rolled his eyes. “I’m focusing on the task at hand, not blubbering away. Unlike you, I’d like to get back to something meaningful tonight.”

“Right, because the world will suddenly end if you miss checking in on the laptop for  _one day_.”

“What makes you think I was going to check in at Kaiba Corp today?”

“Because you always do,” said Harry, “Why should today have been any different?”

“Heh,” said Seto, setting the first cauldron to the side. He cleaned off his sponge and moved onto his second one. “On the contrary, Hermione and I were to review our Arithmancy notes for tomorrow’s exam.”

“And after?”

“I’d like to think I’d be in bed by that point.”

Yugi pumped his fists into the air. “You heard it direct, folks.  _Seto Kaiba_ actually goes to bed!”

“Oh shut up.”

Seto lost track of where the conversation eventually went, but caught sight of Yugi giving him a rather pointed look as he said, “Huh. I wonder who that sounds like…”

“A rich classmate always trying to one up you?” said Ryou, grinning beside himself. “I haven’t the foggiest idea.”

Seto raised an eyebrow.

“Harry was saying how for the early years, there was this one person always trying to prove how better he was from everyone else,” said Yugi. “He tried to befriend him when they first came to Hogwarts and has been his rival in everything from classes to Quidditch since.”

Seto shook his head. “Honestly, I don’t see the comparison.”

Harry snickered. “You don’t, huh?”

Seto sighed, exasperated. “ _I_ for one do not apply enough gel to my hair to lubricate an engine, and my father won’t be hearing about a nonexistent tantrum if I don’t get my way.”

“Nonexistent tantrums?” said Yami Bakura as he took over, snickering. “I can think of a fair few instances where you went off on Yugi for one thing or another. Losing a few duels, being dumped with a rather annoying Priest, ...should I go on?”

Seto ignored him and went back to finishing his second cauldron.

Yami Bakura grinned, grabbed a dirty sponge and chucked it across the room, landing perfectly in the bucket of dirty water as it splashed all over Seto and his once-pristine cauldron.

Seto slowly turned back, glaring.

Harry quickly shifted around to see if Snape was still busy grading potions in his office. “You guys…”

Whatever else he was going to say was muffled out as a sponge smacked him in the face with a wet  _splat!_.

* * *

Ron and Hermione looked up from their homework at the common room table as the group sloshed through the portrait hole a good two hours after curfew.

“Where have you all been?” said Hermione.

Ron’s face was stuck in a cross between nose-wrinkled disgust, and trying not to laugh. “What happened to you? You’re all wet.”

Hermione quickly raised her wand and dried their clothes. “What, did you all go jumping in the lake or something?”

“No,” said Yugi, dropping down into an empty chair at the table. Ryou and Harry joined him as Seto went straight for the dormitory.

“We were testing out the color-changing spell we learned during Professor McGonagall’s extra lesson today,” said Ryou.

“We accidently hit Mrs. Norris,” said Yugi.

“The Spirit of the Ring was aiming for Kaiba,” said Ryou, “I tried to intervene…and…well…she sort of ended up looking like a watermelon afterwards.”

Hermione frowned as Ron started laughing. “It’s a good thing that spell is harmless. You could have ended up in serious trouble!”

“We still did,” said Harry, “Filch sent us to Snape…and we were cleaning cauldrons for the night.”

“And then the Spirit started throwing sponges and we ended up fighting instead.”

Harry clapped Ron on the shoulder. “You should have seen Snape’s face when he came back in to check on us.”

“Yeah,” Yugi laughed. “Don’t get us wrong – the  _cauldrons_ were spotless!”

“He just  _stared_ at the mess we made –  _and us_ – for a good few minutes, and I think he was debating whether or not to keep us all night to clean the entire classroom before he just sort of did one of Kaiba’s death looks and pointed to the door.”

“I’ve never ran for an exit so fast before,” said Ryou, “The Spirit has never caused so much trouble in one day in such a long time.”

“It could have been worse,” said Yugi, “At least it was  _harmless_  trouble.”

Ryou nodded. “That’s true.” He stretched and got up. “Well, I’m going to head up to bed. I’ll see you all at breakfast?”

Hermione nodded. “Sounds good.”

Ryou smiled and departed for the boys’ staircase, showing off the bright green that the back of his hair had turned.

Yugi frowned. That wasn’t there while they were in detention. Cleaning the cauldrons hadn’t turned any of them green…so where did that come from?

Yami chuckled. /I think I know who did that…/

**/Yeah…I think so too…/**

“Uh…” Ron pointed. “He trying a new look?”

Yugi shook his head. “I think that was payback…from Kaiba.”

Hermione pursed her lips. “From  _Seto_? Why?”

Yugi laughed. “Well…the Spirit  _wanted_ to turn him green, and then started the fight in the Potions…”

“Someone ought to tell him,” said Harry.

A muffled shout sounded from somewhere upstairs.

Yugi looked up towards the common room ceiling. “I think he just found out. …And I think I’m going to hang down here a while and let whatever happens next up there resolve itself.”

“Good idea,” said Ron, “Though there may not be a dorm left the way those two spirits up there get into fights.”

Yugi gave a mock pout.

Harry grinned. “Don’t worry, Yugi. If your room explodes or gets sent to the Shadow Realm or something, we’ll squeeze you in ours.”

There was a loud thump from upstairs, and they all glanced upwards.

“I might have to take you up on that…”

**Author's Note:**

> If there is something specific you would like to see, my [ask box](http://dxmichelle.tumblr.com/ask) is always open for more prompts!


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